At first our practice is for ourselves alone...but as wisdom begins to unfold through reflection and practice, we come to understand that all beings are in the same predicament that we are - suffering and wanting to be happy. Thus we can do our practice for the benefit of all beings. This becomes the natural response to our suffering world.

In the process of relating to others, we often barricade ourselves behind some form of collective identity; be it our family, clan, race, nationality, religion, whatever. To truly connect we need to drop this we-ego ("wego") and allow ourselves to be vulnerable to love unconditional.

All human endeavors take some effort, but what is a balanced effort and from what place of our being does it originate? We can train the mind to respond appropriately, to be balanced here and now, but it is never a fixed position. We know what being out of balance feels like. What supports the open ease and wholehearted capacity of inner balance? How can we step out of our own way, so the effort in practice becomes effortless?

The problem with money is that it takes us to a strange and separate world, where only the bottom-line counts. The wall separating this world from the rest of our life stretches out inside ourselves, and splits us in two. A wholesome life requires that we take down this inner wall.